Reading family welcomes Habitat for Humanity volunteers to new home

Jeannette Maldonado and daughters from left, Daniela Garcia, 10; Gabriela Garcia, 8; and Victoria Garcia, 8, welcome well-wishers to their kitchen as they celebrate efforts by Habitat for Humanity to build them a new home..

A little water accumulated in a yard in the 1900 block of Perkiomen Avenue Saturday, the result of off-and-on downpours.

That wasn't a concern for Jeannette Maldonado and Benjamin Garcia. They have a small army of Habitat for Humanity volunteers to help them find and fix the source of the problem. Those same volunteers helped Maldonado and Garcia build the home.

Maldonado, Garcia and their three daughters, moved in shortly before Thanksgiving. They invited the volunteers to their home Saturday to see what it looks like furnished and show their thanks by providing the volunteers with lunch.

Garcia said he doesn't mind having to make repairs because it's their home instead of the two-room apartment they had rented for more than 11 years.

"We're picky people," he said. "This is better for us."

Their daughters Daniela, 10; Gabriela, 8, and Victoria Garcia, 4, are happy in their new home, Maldonado said.

"It feels different, but it feels good," she said. "It's more special."

The home is the 60th completed by Habitat for Humanity of Berks County but the first built from the ground up, Executive Director Timothy J. Daley said.

The property was donated to the organization several years ago, but by the time crews started working on the house in the fall of 2012 the structure was unsafe and had to be torn down, he said.

"I'm especially proud to be standing here," Daley told about 20 people gathered for the celebration. "This house has a story. They all do, but this one in particular. This house is representative of what we do and are capable of doing not just as an organization but as a community, by people who care."

The signatures of everyone who worked on the house are behind the walls and under the carpet, Daley said.

Garcia, who works in manufacturing, and Maldonado, who works part-time at a fast-food restaurant, had to put in 400 hours of what Habitat for Humanity calls sweat equity. They worked on the house and attended sessions on budgeting and financial management.

They have a 30-year mortgage, and make payments to the organization, including estimated taxes and insurance costs.

"They're owners in every sense of the word," Daley said. "We have mentors to stay with them to make sure things are going OK. We're a hand up, not a handout.

The next project will be four row homes at Fourth and Elm streets, he said.